Please log in

or

Register now for free

or

Choose your profile *

Email *

A valid e-mail address. All e-mails from the system will be sent to this address. The e-mail address is not made public and will only be used if you wish to receive a new password or wish to receive certain news or notifications by e-mail.

Password

Username *

Newsletters

Higher education updates from the THE editorial team

World University Rankings news

If you do not wish to be contacted about offers, products or services from THE/TES Global then please check this box

In a statement released on 18 June, the university’s acting vice-chancellor Alastair Adair said that the job losses are necessary because Ulster finds itself in a “difficult position, requiring thorough consideration and tough decisions in response to the budget cuts in higher education”.

“We will be required to cut in the region of 1,200 student places and, potentially, 210 staff posts,” he said.

The areas in which student places and staff numbers would be lost had not yet been finalised, said Professor Adair, who promised that to “ensure that our staff remain fully informed and involved in the process”.

He also warned that the cuts are likely to have a “potential longer term impact” to the skills base in Northern Ireland, the development of which “is so vital to the knowledge economy and to local and global potential".

Senior university leaders have complained that higher education has borne the brunt of spending cuts in the province as Stormont’s power-sharing executive has been unable to reach a decision on implementing welfare reforms.

Austerity had been displaced on to sectors such as higher education as a result, it has been argued.

The staffing changes at Queen's will be carried out by December, with compulsory redundancies a possibility if voluntary reductions cannot be made, while the student intake reduction will take place over three years, starting with a reduction of 290 this autumn.